How I Organize Our Important Family Documents
/If you know me or you’ve followed along for a while, you know how deep my love runs for all things organization. Today I’m sharing how I organize our most important family documents – things like legal documents, taxes, insurance, and medical bills. Everyone has their own system for this – just sharing what’s worked for us and what’s helped keep the paperwork under control over the years.
My Filing Rules
When it comes to important papers, I have two rules. One: do something about it NOW. Whether that’s paying the bill (when feasible of course), calling customer service, filing away a paper where it actually should go – don’t put it off. Deal with it as soon as possible as things come in.
And two: if there's also an email/online copy (utility bills, most receipts, etc., something I could print if I needed to) I don't keep a paper copy. Sign up for e-statements and auto-pay, auto-archive those bills to an email folder so they never even hit your inbox, and read/toss the papers that come in the mail. There are rare instances where I do like to have paper copies, or multiple copies, of things, but for the most part, I want these things on auto-pilot so I’m NOT wasting time messing with actual papers.
Our Fireproof File Boxes
I keep our important family documents in a fireproof file box like the ones below (scroll through the widget below to see options - our heavy duty one is from Walmart, another great fireproof option with extra pockets is on Amazon), with colored hanging folders and tri-cut manila folders. We actually have two boxes – one is not quite enough room to hold everything for our family, but the peace of mind from having these things safely tucked away is worth it.
How I Color Code Our Files
A pack of hanging file folders with FIVE colors (like these!) makes it so easy to color-code these things. Here’s how I handle ours!
BLUE = LEGAL
This section includes things like passports, birth certificates, immunization records, social security cards, wills, powers of attorney, advanced directives, and business formation documents. This may sound morbid, but having an attorney for a husband and a funeral director for a father-in-law (they’ve seen some drama when it comes to these things), I cannot emphasize to you enough the importance of having an estate plan, which includes things like wills, powers of attorney, and advance directives in place – especially if you are married and ESPECIALLY if you have children. The complications your family members will have to deal with (or fight over) if you don’t have specific plans in place… just not something you want to burden your loved ones with. You do not have to have a large or complicated “estate” to be worthy of having an estate plan – these things are for EVERYONE.
Texas friends – if you do not have these things in place, Andrew and I highly recommend our attorney friend Marley Elliott! She’s helped us with all sorts of things, from estate documents to business formations. She’s super great at explaining things in an easy-to-understand way, very fairly priced, and can do everything remotely.
GREEN = FINANCIAL
This is where I file anything credit card-related (disputes/payoff records, but not statements – opt for e-statements, always), retirement/investment account documents, 3 years of tax returns, and any loan/line of credit documents.
YELLOW = HOME
The yellow folders house anything related to our home, including property taxes (these could also go in Green but since these are more “active” tax documents, I put them here), lease/purchase/refinance documents and anything real estate-related. I save home repair invoices here and receipts for major purchases (furniture/appliances). I also keep a couple of copies of a recent utility bill, as these are needed occasionally. Otherwise, all utilities are handled online!
RED = INSURANCE
All things home/life/auto/health insurance go here! I have a separate file for each family member's medical bills and explanations of benefits (EOBs) for the last 3 years. Definitely keep your EOBs for a while (this is one thing I do prefer to keep hard copies of, in addition to online copies) – I’ve learned hard and expensive lessons there.
Always, always compare your medical bills to what the EOBs said would be covered, and do not be afraid to call and advocate for yourself. Doctors’ offices make billing mistakes (intentionally or not, at the expense of patients who aren’t paying close attention) ALL. THE. TIME.
If any family member has a significant medical procedure, I keep all documents and bills related to that in a separate file. And on that note, I keep all pregnancy/delivery-related bills and EOBs in a separate file for each baby.
I only keep the current and one most recent previous car and home insurance policy – if our coverage changes, I like to have one previous record to compare it to, but that’s about it. No need to keep years’ worth of those things.
ORANGE = OTHER
This is where I keep things like job records (offer letters, contracts), vehicle purchase and maintenance records, charitable giving records, veterinarian records, and hobby-related things like membership documents and large purchase receipts. School records (report cards, transcripts, etc.) are kept in our kids’ personal keepsake file boxes. Read more about those HERE!
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the never-ending influx of paperwork, I hope this was helpful! Obviously every family’s will look a little different. Just having a specific place for things to GO makes a difference in keeping clutter under control so it doesn’t pile up, on the counter or on your to-do list. If you’re on a decluttering mission this year, taking care of tasks related to these things and safeguarding this kind of documentation would be my number one place to start.
Shop all of our important document organization items, all in one place, HERE.